A review by morebedsidebooks
Foreign Words by Vassilis Alexakis

hopeful sad

5.0

Foreign Words by Vassilis Alexakis, translated by Alyson Waters, is the story of a bilingual author who after the passing of his father and inability to express it returns to an old fascination with Africa. Specifically, the Central African Republic and learning its primary language Sango. 

Bearing a bit in common with his protagonist, Greek author Alexakis while living in France wrote his first novel in French later too writing in his mother tongue of Greek and translating. So, it’s not surprising many linguistic observations and a bit of a language lesson are gracefully incorporated into this text. Coming together to form a most emotive novel on how language can shape the world, ourselves and connections. Further the acute ramifications of shifts and loss be it around a person, language, culture, country, or colonisation. 

I picked up this award-winning book years ago, after my own father’s death. Yet, it was during a different period where I seemed to be having trouble over language myself that I most appreciated it. Multilingualism has become greater a fact of the present. Too in a world where many languages are endangered, one would hope that “Is it necessary to choose? Languages are not inclined to fight one another. They are open to dialogue.” 

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